<p dir="ltr">Early in June, the Ropsten test network of Ethereum and its Proof-of-Work execution layer successfully merged. Now, the second-most popular cryptocurrency is preparing for its Gray Glacier upgrade.</p><p dir="ltr">The Ropsten test, which was the first barrier in Ethereum's eventual transition to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol, was seen as a turning point for the cryptocurrency. This objective may be furthered with the Gray Glacier upgrade. Learn more about the improvement and its significance on <a href="https://www.builder.news/" alt="Builder News" title="Builder News" target="_blank" rel="" class="">Builder.news</a>.</p><h2>1. What is Ethereum Gray Glacier?</h2><p dir="ltr">Gray Glacier is an Ethereum hard fork upgrade. It establishes new guidelines for the network's improvement and mandates that miners and node operators download the most recent version of their Ethereum clients.</p><p dir="ltr">The Ethereum Foundation claims that in order to use the new network, all miners and node administrators must manually update to the most recent client versions. They risk having their "client sync to the pre-fork blockchain once the upgrade occurs" if they don't comply.</p><p dir="ltr">Clients who choose not to upgrade will remain on an outdated chain that follows the previous regulations. They won't be able to send Ether or use the Ethereum network after the upgrade.</p><p dir="ltr">For the transition to ETH 2.0 Proof-of-Stake (PoS), the Ethereum Gray Glacier update is essential. It has to do with pushing back the Difficulty Bomb by 700,000 blocks, so that it won't go off until about October 2022.</p><p class="prosemirror-p-center"><img src="https://cdn.builder.news/news/11ed13c2b2aae78ba8e6023f659fee92.jpg" alt="" title="" width="600" height="299"></p><p><em><strong>&gt;&gt;&gt; Related:&nbsp;</strong></em><a href="https://www.builder.news/crypto-insights/5-facts-about-layer-2" alt="5 facts about Layer 2 - An optimal solution for Ethereum" title="5 facts about Layer 2 - An optimal solution for Ethereum" target="_blank" rel="" class=""><em><strong>5 facts about Layer 2 - An optimal solution for Ethereum</strong></em></a></p><h2>2. Difficulty Bomb/Ice Age</h2><h3>What is Difficulty Bomb?&nbsp;</h3><p dir="ltr">The difficulty bomb increases the mining difficulty exponentially for the proof-of-work (PoW) Ethereum network until the Ice Age takes place. The network will stop creating blocks during the Ice Age. As the mining difficulty rises, miners will simply stop mining new blocks.</p><p dir="ltr">The Ethereum difficulty bomb is a mechanism that makes the PoW mining algorithm's problems harder for a specific amount of blocks. As a result, block timings take longer and miners receive lower payouts in ETH.&nbsp;</p><p class="prosemirror-p-center"><img src="https://cdn.builder.news/news/11ed13c2b2aaef0ba8e6023f659fee92.jpg" alt="The difficulty bomb increases the mining difficulty exponentially for the proof-of-work (PoW)" title="The difficulty bomb increases the mining difficulty exponentially for the proof-of-work (PoW)" width="600" height="300"></p><h3>The Difficulty Bomb delay</h3><p dir="ltr">The objective is for miners to progressively stop mining the Ethereum 1.0 PoW chain as the network switches from PoW. Detonating the difficulty bomb would indicate that the actual transition, also known as <a href="https://www.builder.news/crypto-insights/the-merge-a-pivotal-event-for-ethereum" alt="The Merge: A pivotal event for Ethereum" title="The Merge: A pivotal event for Ethereum" target="_blank" rel="" class=""><u>The Merge</u></a>, would be approaching soon.&nbsp;</p><p dir="ltr">The Merge's implementation went live on Ethereum's Ropsten testnet at the start of June, and according to Vitalik Buterin and other developers, the switchover could take place as early as August this year "if all goes according to plan."</p><p dir="ltr">However, delaying the difficulty bomb for an additional 100 days makes it doubtful that the deadline will be reached; instead, the modified EIP-5133 proposal now suggests that the mechanism's implementation should take place by mid-September.</p><p dir="ltr">The difficulty bomb was delayed due to a lack of cooperation in the mainnet execution of The Merge between PoW and PoS, If the bomb hadn't been postponed, it might have been impossible to mine Ethereum 1.0 until ETH2.0 was ready. The Difficulty Bomb was pushed back due to numerous delays, including five network upgrades. These included:</p><ul><li><p dir="ltr">2017: Byzantium update</p></li><li><p dir="ltr">2019: Constantinople update</p></li><li><p dir="ltr">2020: Muir Glacier update (difficulty bomb only)</p></li><li><p dir="ltr">2021: London update</p></li><li><p dir="ltr">2021: Arrow Glacier update (difficulty bomb only)</p></li></ul><p dir="ltr">The difficulty bomb won't be necessary after Ethereum 2.0 is released because mining for Ethereum proof-of-work will no longer be rewarded.</p><p class="prosemirror-p-center"><img src="https://cdn.builder.news/news/11ed13c2b2ab010ca8e6023f659fee92.jpg" alt="The difficulty bomb won't be necessary after Ethereum 2.0 is released" title="The difficulty bomb won't be necessary after Ethereum 2.0 is released" width="600" height="300"></p><h2>3. What to do for the Ethereum’s Gray Glacier upgrade?</h2><p dir="ltr">Users of Ethereum are not required to do any particular activity. However, they must comply with any requests for adjustments made by exchanges or wallet service providers. Numerous cryptocurrency exchanges supported the update to the Ethereum network and stopped accepting deposits and withdrawals during the Gray Glacier upgrade.</p><p dir="ltr">To work with Gray Glacier's upgrade, node operators must update their client versions. Those node operators and miners who choose not to upgrade will continue to operate on an outdated chain. As a result, they won't be able to send Ether or use the upgraded Ethereum network.</p><iframe width="550" height="400" src="data:text/html;charset=utf-8,%3Cblockquote%20class%3D%22twitter-tweet%22%3E%3Cp%20lang%3D%22en%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3E%uD83E%uDDCA%20Gray%20Glacier%20Upgrade%20Announcement%20%uD83E%uDDCA%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EAt%20block%2015%2C050%2C000%2C%20the%20Ethereum%20network%20will%20undergo%20the%20Gray%20Glacier%20fork%20to%20push%20back%20the%20difficulty%20bomb%2C%20*hopefully*%20for%20the%20last%20time%20ever%20%uD83D%uDE01%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EIf%20you%20run%20a%20node%20or%20validator%2C%20make%20sure%20to%20upgrade%20%uD83D%uDD1C%21%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//t.co/wmPqzQSgL7%22%3Ehttps%3A//t.co/wmPqzQSgL7%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%26mdash%3B%20Tim%20Beiko%20%7C%20timbeiko.eth%20%uD83D%uDC3C%20%28@TimBeiko%29%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A//twitter.com/TimBeiko/status/1537548845265039360%3Fref_src%3Dtwsrc%255Etfw%22%3EJune%2016%2C%202022%3C/a%3E%3C/blockquote%3E%0A%3Cscript%20async%20src%3D%22https%3A//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js%22%20charset%3D%22utf-8%22%3E%3C/script%3E%0A"></iframe><p dir="ltr"></p><p dir="ltr">The Gray Glacier is "hopefully" the final extension of the difficulty bomb, according to Tim Beiko, Ethereum Protocol Support. This indicates that Ethereum 2.0, also known as a proof-of-stake (PoS) Ethereum, will launch in the next months.</p><div class="pr-block-special"><strong>Disclaimer:</strong><br>This article is intended for and only to be used for reference purposes only. No such information provided constitutes advice or a recommendation that any investment or trading strategy is suitable for any specific name.</div><p><br></p>

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A deep dive into Ethereum Gray Glacier Upgrade